Ulysses S. Grant’s narrow victory in 1868 encouraged members of the Republican Party to reconsider their position. On one hand, many contemporaries believed that the party’s support for Black men’s voting rights—tepid though it was—had cost it votes. At the same time, Republican leaders were cheered to see that newly-enfranchised Black men throughout the South had come out to support Grant’s election. Enfranchising Black men nationwide would, they hoped, secure their party’s political future.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/blogs/national-museum-american-history/2021/02/19/black-male-suffrage/?utm_source=&utm_medium=&utm_campaign=&spMailingID=44501639&spUserID=ODYwMDI4NTI2Njk3S0&spJobID=1942084844&spReportId=MTk0MjA4NDg0NAS2
In 1868, Black suffrage was on the ballot